The Path to Perfection : an examination and restatement of John Wesley’s doctrine of Christian Perfection by W E Sangster. Epworth Press, 1957 (The New Lincoln Library, vol. 11). 209 pages
Available secondhand
By all accounts this is an excellent book which received high praise from all quarters, religious and secular, when first published in 1943.
The fact that it is a thesis for a doctorate might seem daunting as an academic and arid prospect.
Nothing could be further from the truth for it glows with evangelical fervour.
John Wesley’s teaching about Christian Perfection, ever since the 18th century, has been a source of investigation, discussion, analysis and debate with many varying conclusions.
Dr Sangster’s approach is refreshing and honest, careful and lucid, setting Wesley’s teaching much clearer in the context of the time and with some necessary and helpful amendment in the light of some 300 years of later history.
According to the author, Wesley much preferred to use the phrase ‘perfect love’ but because ‘Christian Perfection’ was so widely and frequently used at the time, he felt constrained to use it, unwillingly.
It would be easy to find the personal testimonies of Wesley’s followers as the most convincing and moving in all the analysis and discussion.
The final chapter ‘The Vision of the Goal’ is a summary of all the detailed investigation undertaken by Sangster in London in the dark days of World War 2.
The book is worth reading for this chapter alone.